The Love Before the Punishment
by EvilRegality93
Summary: Prequel to Love and Punishment. This follows Emma and Regina on their path from supposed enemies to True Love and how the Curse was broken along the way. You don't have to read the original for it to make sense. Currently rated T unless reviewers want it to get a bit steamier *wink wink*
1. Chapter 1: The Cancellation

**A/N: This is the PREQUEL to Love and Punishment. It'll make sense if you haven't read that though, don't worry. A couple of people seemed interested in how Regina and Emma's relationship in that came about so here we go... This is set near the end of s1 and as with the original, there are some pretty big divergences from cannon (other than SwanQueen!). Mainly, that it is Gold that tries to poison Emma with the turnover not Regina but that will be covered fully in this story. Anyway...I hope you enjoy it!**

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**A/N 2: So this is being published a bit later than planned because I just wasn't happy with it. I'm still not if I'm being honest but if I re-write one more time I may go crazy. I'm just gonna put it out there and move on to future chapters.**

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Chapter 1: The Cancellation.

"Would you like to talk about it Emma?"

"Nope."

"I really think it would help. You shouldn't bottle everything up, it'll only make it worse."

"I said I didn't want to talk about it Mary Margaret so just back off."

"I want to help you. Open up. Talk to me."

"Urgh! Just shut up! I really can't deal with all this right now!"

Emma grabbed her keys and leather jacket and stomped out of the apartment, leaving a stunned Mary Margaret in her wake.

She knew she shouldn't have lost it like that but Mary Margaret just didn't know when to shut up. Even if she was only trying to help. For the last week her roommate had dedicated herself to exorcising Emma of her demons. All of the ones from her days in the foster system that she'd far rather forget. Why was that so wrong? She shouldn't have to think about _that. _A sob wracked through her entire body as tears began to stream down her face.

She was supposed to be picking up Henry in twenty minutes but for the first time since deciding to stay in Storybrooke she just couldn't face seeing him. He was so damn optimistic all the time. At least he'd never end up as damaged as her.

She wiped away her tears and slumped down on one of the benches by the docks. This was fast becoming her favourite place to escape to when it all got too much. It was blissfully quiet.

Pulling out her cell from her pocket, she took a moment to steady herself before dialling.

"Mayor Mills speaking."

"Hey, it's Emma. Have you got a sec?"

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Regina's heart instantly began to beat faster upon hearing that name. She tried to convince herself that it was just in preparation for the verbal warfare that was about to commence. Adrenalin and other such scientific things. There was no other explanation for it…

"Sherriff Swan. To what do I owe this dubious pleasure?"

"I was just hoping that you could pick Henry up from school and hang on to him for a couple of hours. Something's kinda come up."

For a second Regina thought that she'd heard the other woman's voice tremble slightly as she spoke.

"Would you care to enlighten me?"

Her question was met by silence.

"Miss Swan, if something is going on in my town that's important enough for you to miss spending time with Henry then don't you think I have a right to know?"

"Believe me when I say it's nothing important and definitely not something that you'd be interested in. Can you look after Henry or not?"

Emma's voice had definitely been shaky that time but the Mayor was too annoyed by the question itself to worry about it at that moment.

"Of course I can look after my own son! How dare you!" She paused and managed to reign in her anger with a few deep breaths. "Look even if you want to be evasive with me, you owe Henry an explanation. He won't be happy about this."

"Jeez, it's only a couple of hours."

"Well if that's how you feel about it…"

"No wait! I'm sorry. I'm really not myself right now. Look, would six be a convenient time for me to pick him up?"

"Six will suffice. Try not to be late, or should I say any later than you already will be."

Regina slammed down the phone, pleased to have had the last word on the matter.

The feeling was short lived as her mind began to form possible explanations for the other woman's lateness. It was most unusual. If anything could ever be classified as certain in this world, it would be Emma's determination to spend as much time with Henry as possible, yet here she was sacrificing two hours with him. It wasn't like she got to see him that much, only one weeknight after school and every other Saturday. Something was definitely wrong.

An ice cold feeling of dread passed through her. What if Emma had found out something about the Curse? Regina dismissed the idea as quickly as it came. The so called Saviour had been upset on the phone, if she ever found out the truth she'd hardly sit around and cry about it. In fact she'd probably be the one to lead the angry mob, no doubt wanting to chop off the head of the Evil Queen herself. A shudder passed through Regina at the thought.

No, Emma must never find out who she really was and to make sure of that she needed to know everything about her nemesis. She'd find out exactly what the blonde was so troubled about. She just needed a plan.

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Emma decided to take a walk to clear her head. All she wanted to do was run away from everything but that wasn't really an option anymore. She had too many ties to this place. She shook her head, trying to clear it, and set off towards the woods.

A while later Emma checked the time. If she headed back to the apartment now, she'd have enough time to change before picking up Henry. Somehow she'd gotten really muddy during her walk. Fine… she'd fallen over. Twice. She didn't really want to risk running into Mary Margaret at the apartment but she knew better than to trail mud through the Mayor's pristine house. That lesson had been learnt the hard way.

Fortunately the school teacher was nowhere to be seen as Emma crept through the front door. She jumped in the shower and allowed the boiling hot water to wash away the last of her stress along with the dirt. She quickly got dressed and threw her damp hair into a messy bun as she left in a rush. Now that she'd calmed down she was really looking forward to spending the rest of the evening with her son.

Before she'd made it to Regina's front door, Henry came rushing out, shouting a hurried goodbye back towards his other mother as he did so.

In companionable silence they headed to Granny's for some dinner. The second he sat in his seat, he began to bombard her with questions.

"Why were you so late Emma? Mom said you were busy? Was it something to do with Operation Cobra? Is that why you couldn't tell her? What were you doing?"

"Umm… I'm sorry about that Kid. No it wasn't anything to do with Operation Cobra. It's a long story. Very boring y'know? I'm sure you wouldn't want to hear about it anyway."

Henry looked like he was going to argue the point when he suddenly started bouncing up and down in his seat.

"Guess what? I have some awesome news! Mom said you can come in tonight and read to me before bed. Isn't that cool? Oh and then she wants to talk to you. She said she'd be in her study I think."

"Aren't you too old for bedtime stories? Wait… your mom wants to talk to me? What have I done wrong now?"

The boy merely shrugged, not really caring what his moms were going to talk about. He returned to what was the far more important topic in his mind.

"It's not just any old story though, it's the ones from The Book." Henry's infamous book of fairy tales was now known simply as The Book to most of the town.

"Okay. I'll look forward to it." She replied earnestly.

They both enjoyed the rest of their time together, particularly the ice cream that Emma had agreed to on the condition that Regina never find out. Henry had literally licked his bowl clean. As a mother she probably shouldn't have allowed that sort of thing but hey.

Emma settled the check and left arm in arm with her son.

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Regina had a plan. If you could really call it that. She'd decided simplicity might be the best tactic here. She'd told Henry that Emma could come in and read to him before bed, just as the brunette had once been allowed to do. Hopefully that, combined with copious amounts of alcohol, would lower the Sherriff's defences enough for the truth to come spilling out. If that failed, she'd just come up with a more elaborate scheme tomorrow.

She'd heard the two of them return half an hour ago and head straight upstairs but Emma had yet to reappear. She'd better not have fallen asleep up there. Just as she was about to give in and investigate, the sound of heavy footfalls on the stairs reached her ears. They stopped right outside the study door.

Regina let a full minute pass before her temper got the better of her.

"Are you planning on spending the whole night in my hallway Miss Swan?"

In walked the blonde, her mouth already partly open, ready to retort, when she stopped dead.

Instead of sitting behind her desk, Regina had chosen to curl up on one of the couches, her bare feet tucked under her. If she wanted Emma to feel relaxed enough to talk, she needed to take the first step. With any luck she was looking relaxed and approachable.

"Please take a seat. Can I get you a drink?" she said with a flash of her smile.

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**A/N: So what did you think? Please review etc! Hopefully I'll be able to update again in the next few days. I'm writing this one as I go so it may take longer than my last story! **


	2. Chapter 2: The Admission

**A/N: Here's the next chapter. I couldn't sleep so I wrote it really quickly. Sorry for any typos. Just in case anyone is confused, each time I put in a line, the POV is changing. I wanted to be able to show the inner thoughts of both Emma and Regina so we understand them a bit better. At this point they both have moments of thinking that something more is going on between them but they convince themselves that they mus be wrong. Okay now that's cleared up...**

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Chapter 2: The Admission

Emma forced her mouth shut. She was still gaping at the Mayor. She's never seen her look so normal, it was a beautiful, if slightly unsettling, sight.

She suddenly remembered that she'd been asked a question. "Yeah, a drink would be _great_. Whatever you're having thanks."

Regina stood and sauntered over to the sideboard to pour the drinks. Emma quietly sat opposite the seat she'd just vacated.

"How much trouble am I in this time then?" She was genuinely quite scared of the answer. She didn't think she could handle an argument. As nice as this evening had been she was still feeling very fragile.

"No more than usual Miss Swan," Regina replied, handing one of the glasses over as she spoke, "unless you've recently done something I don't know about yet."

"Other than letting Henry have ice cream I think I'm safe. We weren't actually going to tell you about that though."

Regina smirked but made no further comment. An awkward silence settled over the room. Emma took a few large gulps of her drink.

"So," she began after a while, "why _did_ you want to see me?"

"Henry had a science fair next week and he asked me if you'd be allowed to attend."

"And you'd be okay with that?" Emma asked, unable to keep the disbelief from her voice.

"I suppose I would be as long as everything is fine between you and Henry after tonight. I take it you explained to him why you were late?"

"Everything's great. You don't need to worry about that. It won't happen again. I hope not anyway." She knew that this didn't exactly answer the Mayor's question but hopefully it would go unnoticed. She took another large sip of her drink, shocked to find it almost empty.

"I hope so too."

Emma wouldn't have been surprised if Regina's words had been dripping with scorn and anger but they actually sounded sincere. To be honest they even sounded quite caring. That was crazy though right? The brunette clearly didn't give a crap about her.

She began to blush when she realised she was being closely scrutinised. Just as the attention was becoming unbearable, Regina sprung elegantly from her seat and took Emma's glass, replacing it with another full one before she could refuse.

"Thanks." She had no idea what the hell she was drinking but it was good stuff. She could feel a familiar warmth spreading through her body. Another, more companionable, silence fell between the two women as they enjoyed their drinks.

It dawned on Emma that this would be an ideal opportunity to find out more about Regina while she seemed so relaxed and perhaps even rather drunk. It was now or never.

"So how did you end up as Mayor then? Is it something you've always wanted to do?"

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Regina suppressed a laugh. Emma genuinely thought she was the one in control didn't she? How sweet.

"You could say politics runs in my family." Regina answered carefully, not wanting to set off the so-called superpower of the woman opposite her.

"Ahh. So you obviously come from a well off family. Do your parents live in Storybrooke? I've never heard Henry talk about them."

"My parents are dead. Henry is my only family I'm afraid."

She watched as Emma squirmed, obviously mortified at having stuck her foot in it.

"Oh shit! Regina I'm so sorry. My mouth just says things without thinking them through plus I'm pretty sure I'm drunk right now. What the hell was in that drink you gave me? I mean seriously? I know I always say the dumbest things but I honestly didn't mean to make you upset or anything. If you want to talk about it then I'm here alright? Wait I'm rambling aren't I? I'm just going to stop talking."

Emma had gone bright red and was refusing to look up from the floor. Regina said nothing. She didn't really know how to respond to that outburst.

"Sorry," Emma repeated, "I mean it though. If you need to talk…"

"No offence but we hardly know each other. I seriously doubt you could even begin to understand what being truly alone is like."

Now Regina was getting seriously annoyed. They'd strayed so far off topic. She most definitely didn't want to show anyone her weaknesses, let alone the Saviour. She needed to get back on track and find out why Emma was late. She opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted.

"I've always had to deal with everything alone," Emma's voice was barely a whisper, "the only people I ever trusted ended up being the worst of the lot." A tear made its way down her pale cheek.

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Oh crap. She should have kept her mouth shut. Her mind was heading down a road she really didn't want to travel. She didn't want to think about that family.

Before she could stop it, it suddenly felt like she was ten again, like she was back with _them_, hiding in her closet and praying that they wouldn't come and find her. She could hear footsteps. Oh God!

She closed her eyes and when she reopened them she was sprawled on the floor of the Mayor's study with the brunette kneeling next to her stroking her hair.

"Shh. You're okay. It was just a flashback."

Emma's eyes snapped up to meet the dark orbs looking down at her.

"What? How… how…"

"How did I know?" Regina finished for her.

"Yeah how could you possibly know that?"

"They aren't too difficult to recognise when you're familiar with them," Regina admitted.

"You mean you get them too?"

Regina just nodded, her hand absent-mindedly raising to touch the scar on her lip.

Emma wasn't sure if it was the honesty of this admission or the alcohol in her system but she really wanted to tell Regina everything all of a sudden.

"This is why I was late earlier. Mary Margaret raked up some old memories that I'd much rather forget and I didn't want to risk this happening in front of the Kid y'know? I needed to pull myself together. Clearly I didn't do a very good job."

"Emma you should go home."

What? She'd just tried to open up to someone for the first time in years and all she got was a dismissal? She was obviously right earlier, Regina didn't give a crap about her. She'd just assumed with the way she'd comforted her and even used her first name that maybe things were changing. How stupid. She got to feet shakily and left without a word.

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Regina stayed sitting on the floor long after Emma had gone. She couldn't seem to gather up the energy to move.

She really hadn't meant to upset the blonde by telling her to go home. She'd been genuinely concerned. She knew the Sherriff would regret saying too much once she'd sobered up and for once she decided to respect that. Emma needed rest and time to clear her head.

When she'd set out to discover the reasons behind Emma's odd behaviour, she had mainly been expecting some sordid secret affair or perhaps that it was all just a scheme to see Henry more. Something like that.

Instead she'd been given a glimpse into just how traumatised the woman was about her childhood. And it was all her fault. For the first time in decades she felt guilty. She'd wanted to take away the happy endings from the people who had wronged her but all she really achieved was removing the chance of a happy beginning from someone who really didn't deserve it.

Emma had ended up with a childhood that was probably worse than her own. At least shed had one parent who loved her.

If she was being honest she knew there was another reason she'd asked the blonde to leave. She had come so close to letting her own skeletons slip out. She desperately wanted someone to understand exactly what her life had been like and she'd nearly revealed it all. But Emma could never understand her. If Emma knew the truth she would just view her as the Evil Queen. Everyone saw things as black and white or good and evil. Why should Emma be any different?

She sighed as she slowly got to her feet. She needed to go to bed, it was much later than she'd realised.

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**A/N: I got asked if there was still going to be a sequel to Love and Punishment. The answer is yes. I just hadn't worked out all the plot points so I started this first. It's all planned now though. Here's a hint: Cora will definitely be making an appearance!**


	3. TBC

**A/N: Sorry to get your hopes up for a new chapter but I wanted to fill you in on what's going on...**

**I'm really struggling with this fic for some reason. I hate pretty much everything I'm writing for it! Writer's block sucks. So I've decided to make a start on the sequel to Love and Punishment instead. I've just written the first chapter and it's going much better. I'll probably publish it tonight.**

**I will come back to this one eventually but I don't want to force it now. I hope you guys understand!**

**As always, thanks for all the reviews and favourites! They mean a lot.**


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